I have chosen to interview my grandmother who volunteers at a hospital and with a handicapped woman. Every Israeli citizen has to volunteer for two years when they get to a certain age but for one to pass that age but still take time out of there day to volunteer is amazing. This is the ideal Israeli citizen and the reason I chose my grandmother.
Profile
As a mother of three children, living in Brookline, Massachusetts was a good idea for Ruth Barren. Brookline had a great Jewish community from which Ruth had a good group of friends. In walking distance where house were five synagogues and the children’s school, Maimonides. Her husband, Robert had a great job as an accountant, and in 1980, once her youngest child attended school each day until four p.m. she started working as a dental assistant. She did not work as a dental assistant for long because in 1983 Ruth and her family made aliyah.
Robert was the reason they made aliyah. He believed that every Jew has an obligation to live in Israel, so he pushed Ruth to make aliyah. After a lot of convincing she finally agreed even though she had many doubts.
It was a hard time to make aliyah, her oldest, Miriam was going into eleventh grade, her middle child, Tammy was starting ninth grade, and her youngest, Shoshy was going into fifth grade. Miriam and Shoshy had a hard time for two years because they arrived having to enter schools not in a starting year, but both soon acclimated. For Tammy it was different, she was entering ninth grade when everyone in her grade was starting new and looking to make new friends. Ruth had the hardest time; it took many years for her to acclimate. It was very tough for her to adjust to life without close family and friends around her, but being a social individual, she made a new group of friends from the neighbourhood. At the end of the first year when Ruth and her family returned to Brooklyn for a visit, she realized that she did not belong there anymore, her place was in Israel. Four years after they made aliyah she started working at the Hebrew University as a secretary in physics which she very much enjoyed, and which helped her acclimate.
Only after retiring from her job at Hebrew University did Ruth start volunteering. She volunteers and goes to visit patients at “Bikur Cholim Hospital” and additionally visits a woman who is unable to walk and is in a wheel chair. A friend of hers initially told her about this wheelchair bound woman when Ruth was still working, but she did not have time to visit and assist her because of work and family commitments. After she retired, her friend reminded her of this woman and Ruth decided to volunteer at her house, however that still was not enough for her, so she decided to volunteer at the hospital as well.
Her volunteering with this woman consists of once a week visits, bringing many games to occupy this woman while her husband runs errands. The games Ruth takes to this woman’s house are those which require her to use her brain. Ruth even finds herself leaving a game for the woman to play or a book to read every time she visits.
“The feeling to know I am missed is one of the biggest advantages of visiting this woman” says Ruth. Whenever Ruth has to cancel their once a week meeting, the woman calls Ruth and asks when she will be visiting next. Another reward Ruth feels she gets from volunteering with this woman is being able to make the women feel like she is as important of an individual as we are.
Visiting the hospital two or three times a week means that most patients already know Ruth. They are always very happy to see her and beg her to come every day. When Ruth goes to volunteer in the hospital, she gives out sandwiches, plays games with the patients and talks to them.
The patients who Ruth visits in the hospital give her the feeling of being needed and appreciated. In return Ruth gives them the attention they need, a person to confide in, and a friend.
The volunteering has changed Ruth. When she started volunteering at the hospital and with this woman, she was very quiet, afraid to talk and self conscious, now she is a more open, outgoing, generous and caring person. In Ruth’s opinion people should volunteer with people who can't leave their houses by keeping them company, and letting them tell you about their ambitions and lives.
In conclusion, Ruth states “people should give of themselves, it is important for not only their self being but for the people they help.” Ruth feels that people should not only do in life for themselves, but volunteer and do for others along the way.
Background Research
In 1826 when many students made aliyah from Vilna, they were in need of a medical centre, thus "Bikur Cholim Hospital" was established in the old city of Jerusalem. By 1843 it was still small and only had three rooms for patients. Bikur Cholim hospital was in great need of money so Sir Moses Montefiore donated a large quantity of money which was used for buying medicine.
In 1864 they purchased two large buildings. These buildings were for medical treatments, a pharmacy, as well as an area for the very ill, and an office. This move helped the hospital and because of this Bikur Cholim had many more patients. The reason they had more patients was not only because of the move, but additionally because of the outbreak of cholera.
"Bikur Cholim Hospital" improved and by 1893 seven hundred and eighty one patients were hospitalized. In 1907 they considered purchasing a large lot and after a while they did, but the building was slow so it was only finished in 1925.
Today there are many different departments in this hospital such as; internal medicine, cardiology, gynecology, obstetrics, pediatrics, neonatology, surgery, ENT, hospitals in Israel and admits many ultra orthodox Jews, trying to cater to their needs. An advantage of this is that people can walk to the hospital for medical care or to visit a patient on Shabbat.
When times get hard in Jerusalem, the doctors in this hospital become ones to help with burdens and life problems. During the siege and wars, Bikur Cholim hospital has always been a helping hand. This hospital is therefore known as "a home of loving kindness that the citizens of Israel can't do without.
Literary Connection
DREAMING:
"The morning rays strike the place
Masada's heroes fought
Our tears swell for those who fell
Forever in our thoughts
Dreaming of some day at hand
When innocent blood no longer stains the sand
The glistening sea of the Galilee
Reflects the azure sky
Birds' sweet trill from Tzfas' hills
Echo as they fly
Dreaming of some future time
When joyful songs replace the siren cries
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
Near and far, any place we are, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem
Machpela Cave given away
No more to hear our prayers
Walls cast gloom on Rochel's tomb
We still have much to fear
Dreaming of the perfect dawn
When new griefs no longer must be mourned
In her mountain coves, under olive groves
They long for time to spend
But the Golan Heights and border fights
Her young soldiers must defend
Dreaming of some coming day
When tools of war can be forever thrown away
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
From near and far, any place we are, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem
The Kotel's stones hear the moans
Of desperate groups of Jews
We must unite in Israel's fight
We have so much to lose
Dreaming of a day to be
When we walk our land, together, proud and free!
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
So we turn to you, each and every Jew, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem"
The song I have chosen to describe the importance of the land of Israel as well as the importance of being a Jewish Israeli citizen is called “Dreaming” by Shalshelet. In this song we can see how every Jew cares for one another and how beautiful and important the land of Israel is. Instead of writing about the song as a whole I have chosen to take parts of the song and explain why they are important to me as a Jew and Israeli citizen.
"Our tears swell for those who fell
Forever in our thoughts"
This part of the song is very meaningful and describes how every Jew cares about one another. We see this because it speaks about Jewish soldiers who were killed and how they are always in our thoughts.
"The glistening sea of the Galilee
Reflects the azure sky
Birds' sweet trill from Tzfas' hills
Echo as they fly"
In this part of the song we see how beautiful the land of Israel is and how every small part of this land is meaningful. This is shown in the song because when the sea is mentioned in the song it only takes one characteristic and shows how it is stunning.
“So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
So we turn to you, each and every Jew, Jerusalem"
This is the beginning of the chorus and it speaks about the importance of every Jew to be close to Jerusalem. The last line shows how every Jew counts on one another.
“So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure now
Israel'll - be strong and secure now
G-d help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem”
We can see from here how every Jew feels a great connection to Jerusalem and will always hold on to it. In addition we see how the Jewish people have gone through so much for Jerusalem but will not give up and believe that one day it will all be in the Jews hands.
“Machpela Cave given away
No more to hear our prayers
Walls cast gloom on Rochel's tomb
We still have much to fear
Dreaming of the perfect dawn
When new griefs no longer must be mourned
In her mountain coves, under olive groves
They long for time to spend
But the Golan Heights and border fights
Her young soldiers must defend
Dreaming of some coming day
When tools of war can be forever thrown away
The Kotel's stones hear the moans
Of desperate groups of Jews
We must unite in Israel's fight
We have so much to lose
Dreaming of a day to be
When we walk our land, together, proud and free!"
These three paragraphs show us how now matter what, the Jewish people will always believe and dream of better. In addition, in the third paragraph we see how the Jewish people know they have to unite in order to succeed.
In conclusion this song is very meaningful to every Jew and shows how every Jewish person and Israeli citizen is there for one another. This song also shows how after all the bad that happens to the land of Israel and to Israeli citizens; the land of Israel is still their top priority.
Creative Connection
I chose to show how Israel is important to me by putting together a video of places and people in Israel. The reason I chose to do this is because when I think of the importance of Israel, what comes to mind are the places and people. At the end of my video I showed a picture of the kotel with many people to show that these places without the Jewish people are beautiful but are lacking, while the Jewish people without the land of Israel are incomplete. Because these places and people are only perfect together, it is every Jew’s responsibility to live in Israel and be an Israeli citizen.
Reflection
When I first decided to interview my grandmother, I thought that I knew everything about her volunteering and that there was not much new to learn. When she told me she volunteered with a handicapped woman it was the first thing that surprised me, because I thought she only volunteered at a hospital. After that there were many other facts that I learned about her. While interviewing my grandmother I learned not only that there are many things I don’t know about her, but that there are so many other great relatives of mine that I do not know a lot about.
Working on this project improved my researching skills and now I know how to find information quickly. Writing this project also enhanced my spelling because while typing it out in the computer I used spell check to correct my spelling mistakes.
Overall, this project was very important for me to do, especially at this age when I will soon be volunteering for two years and should know how important it is. Even though my expectations were met by my grandmother and by the interview, I was disappointed because when we got this project I thought it would be a lot more interesting. However, what I liked about this project is that it taught me how important the land of Israel is, and how important it is to be a contributing Israeli citizen.
Table of Contents
Rationale
I have chosen to interview my grandmother who volunteers at a hospital and with a handicapped woman. Every Israeli citizen has to volunteer for two years when they get to a certain age but for one to pass that age but still take time out of there day to volunteer is amazing. This is the ideal Israeli citizen and the reason I chose my grandmother.
Profile
As a mother of three children, living in Brookline, Massachusetts was a good idea for Ruth Barren. Brookline had a great Jewish community from which Ruth had a good group of friends. In walking distance where house were five synagogues and the children’s school, Maimonides. Her husband, Robert had a great job as an accountant, and in 1980, once her youngest child attended school each day until four p.m. she started working as a dental assistant. She did not work as a dental assistant for long because in 1983 Ruth and her family made aliyah.
Robert was the reason they made aliyah. He believed that every Jew has an obligation to live in Israel, so he pushed Ruth to make aliyah. After a lot of convincing she finally agreed even though she had many doubts.
It was a hard time to make aliyah, her oldest, Miriam was going into eleventh grade, her middle child, Tammy was starting ninth grade, and her youngest, Shoshy was going into fifth grade. Miriam and Shoshy had a hard time for two years because they arrived having to enter schools not in a starting year, but both soon acclimated. For Tammy it was different, she was entering ninth grade when everyone in her grade was starting new and looking to make new friends. Ruth had the hardest time; it took many years for her to acclimate. It was very tough for her to adjust to life without close family and friends around her, but being a social individual, she made a new group of friends from the neighbourhood. At the end of the first year when Ruth and her family returned to Brooklyn for a visit, she realized that she did not belong there anymore, her place was in Israel. Four years after they made aliyah she started working at the Hebrew University as a secretary in physics which she very much enjoyed, and which helped her acclimate.
Only after retiring from her job at Hebrew University did Ruth start volunteering. She volunteers and goes to visit patients at “Bikur Cholim Hospital” and additionally visits a woman who is unable to walk and is in a wheel chair. A friend of hers initially told her about this wheelchair bound woman when Ruth was still working, but she did not have time to visit and assist her because of work and family commitments. After she retired, her friend reminded her of this woman and Ruth decided to volunteer at her house, however that still was not enough for her, so she decided to volunteer at the hospital as well.
Her volunteering with this woman consists of once a week visits, bringing many games to occupy this woman while her husband runs errands. The games Ruth takes to this woman’s house are those which require her to use her brain. Ruth even finds herself leaving a game for the woman to play or a book to read every time she visits.
“The feeling to know I am missed is one of the biggest advantages of visiting this woman” says Ruth. Whenever Ruth has to cancel their once a week meeting, the woman calls Ruth and asks when she will be visiting next. Another reward Ruth feels she gets from volunteering with this woman is being able to make the women feel like she is as important of an individual as we are.
Visiting the hospital two or three times a week means that most patients already know Ruth. They are always very happy to see her and beg her to come every day. When Ruth goes to volunteer in the hospital, she gives out sandwiches, plays games with the patients and talks to them.
The patients who Ruth visits in the hospital give her the feeling of being needed and appreciated. In return Ruth gives them the attention they need, a person to confide in, and a friend.
The volunteering has changed Ruth. When she started volunteering at the hospital and with this woman, she was very quiet, afraid to talk and self conscious, now she is a more open, outgoing, generous and caring person. In Ruth’s opinion people should volunteer with people who can't leave their houses by keeping them company, and letting them tell you about their ambitions and lives.
In conclusion, Ruth states “people should give of themselves, it is important for not only their self being but for the people they help.” Ruth feels that people should not only do in life for themselves, but volunteer and do for others along the way.
Background Research
In 1826 when many students made aliyah from Vilna, they were in need of a medical centre, thus "Bikur Cholim Hospital" was established in the old city of Jerusalem. By 1843 it was still small and only had three rooms for patients. Bikur Cholim hospital was in great need of money so Sir Moses Montefiore donated a large quantity of money which was used for buying medicine.
In 1864 they purchased two large buildings. These buildings were for medical treatments, a pharmacy, as well as an area for the very ill, and an office. This move helped the hospital and because of this Bikur Cholim had many more patients. The reason they had more patients was not only because of the move, but additionally because of the outbreak of cholera.
"Bikur Cholim Hospital" improved and by 1893 seven hundred and eighty one patients were hospitalized. In 1907 they considered purchasing a large lot and after a while they did, but the building was slow so it was only finished in 1925.
Today there are many different departments in this hospital such as; internal medicine, cardiology, gynecology, obstetrics, pediatrics, neonatology, surgery, ENT, hospitals in Israel and admits many ultra orthodox Jews, trying to cater to their needs. An advantage of this is that people can walk to the hospital for medical care or to visit a patient on Shabbat.
When times get hard in Jerusalem, the doctors in this hospital become ones to help with burdens and life problems. During the siege and wars, Bikur Cholim hospital has always been a helping hand. This hospital is therefore known as "a home of loving kindness that the citizens of Israel can't do without.
Literary Connection
DREAMING:
"The morning rays strike the place
Masada's heroes fought
Our tears swell for those who fell
Forever in our thoughts
Dreaming of some day at hand
When innocent blood no longer stains the sand
The glistening sea of the Galilee
Reflects the azure sky
Birds' sweet trill from Tzfas' hills
Echo as they fly
Dreaming of some future time
When joyful songs replace the siren cries
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
Near and far, any place we are, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem
Machpela Cave given away
No more to hear our prayers
Walls cast gloom on Rochel's tomb
We still have much to fear
Dreaming of the perfect dawn
When new griefs no longer must be mourned
In her mountain coves, under olive groves
They long for time to spend
But the Golan Heights and border fights
Her young soldiers must defend
Dreaming of some coming day
When tools of war can be forever thrown away
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
From near and far, any place we are, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem
The Kotel's stones hear the moans
Of desperate groups of Jews
We must unite in Israel's fight
We have so much to lose
Dreaming of a day to be
When we walk our land, together, proud and free!
So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
So we turn to you, each and every Jew, Jerusalem
So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go, Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure, now
Israel'll be strong and secure now
G-d will help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem"
The song I have chosen to describe the importance of the land of Israel as well as the importance of being a Jewish Israeli citizen is called “Dreaming” by Shalshelet. In this song we can see how every Jew cares for one another and how beautiful and important the land of Israel is. Instead of writing about the song as a whole I have chosen to take parts of the song and explain why they are important to me as a Jew and Israeli citizen.
"Our tears swell for those who fell
Forever in our thoughts"
This part of the song is very meaningful and describes how every Jew cares about one another. We see this because it speaks about Jewish soldiers who were killed and how they are always in our thoughts.
"The glistening sea of the Galilee
Reflects the azure sky
Birds' sweet trill from Tzfas' hills
Echo as they fly"
In this part of the song we see how beautiful the land of Israel is and how every small part of this land is meaningful. This is shown in the song because when the sea is mentioned in the song it only takes one characteristic and shows how it is stunning.
“So with hope we lift our eyes to you, Jerusalem
G-d's grace will surely rise from you, Jerusalem
Though for thousands of years we've been scattered
In you our prayers are gathered
So we turn to you, each and every Jew, Jerusalem"
This is the beginning of the chorus and it speaks about the importance of every Jew to be close to Jerusalem. The last line shows how every Jew counts on one another.
“So we take you in our heart and soul, Jerusalem
We will never ever let you go Jerusalem
For all that we've had to endure now
Israel'll - be strong and secure now
G-d help us through
Dreams do come true, Jerusalem”
We can see from here how every Jew feels a great connection to Jerusalem and will always hold on to it. In addition we see how the Jewish people have gone through so much for Jerusalem but will not give up and believe that one day it will all be in the Jews hands.
“Machpela Cave given away
No more to hear our prayers
Walls cast gloom on Rochel's tomb
We still have much to fear
Dreaming of the perfect dawn
When new griefs no longer must be mourned
In her mountain coves, under olive groves
They long for time to spend
But the Golan Heights and border fights
Her young soldiers must defend
Dreaming of some coming day
When tools of war can be forever thrown away
The Kotel's stones hear the moans
Of desperate groups of Jews
We must unite in Israel's fight
We have so much to lose
Dreaming of a day to be
When we walk our land, together, proud and free!"
These three paragraphs show us how now matter what, the Jewish people will always believe and dream of better. In addition, in the third paragraph we see how the Jewish people know they have to unite in order to succeed.
In conclusion this song is very meaningful to every Jew and shows how every Jewish person and Israeli citizen is there for one another. This song also shows how after all the bad that happens to the land of Israel and to Israeli citizens; the land of Israel is still their top priority.
Creative Connection
I chose to show how Israel is important to me by putting together a video of places and people in Israel. The reason I chose to do this is because when I think of the importance of Israel, what comes to mind are the places and people. At the end of my video I showed a picture of the kotel with many people to show that these places without the Jewish people are beautiful but are lacking, while the Jewish people without the land of Israel are incomplete. Because these places and people are only perfect together, it is every Jew’s responsibility to live in Israel and be an Israeli citizen.
Reflection
When I first decided to interview my grandmother, I thought that I knew everything about her volunteering and that there was not much new to learn. When she told me she volunteered with a handicapped woman it was the first thing that surprised me, because I thought she only volunteered at a hospital. After that there were many other facts that I learned about her. While interviewing my grandmother I learned not only that there are many things I don’t know about her, but that there are so many other great relatives of mine that I do not know a lot about.
Working on this project improved my researching skills and now I know how to find information quickly. Writing this project also enhanced my spelling because while typing it out in the computer I used spell check to correct my spelling mistakes.
Overall, this project was very important for me to do, especially at this age when I will soon be volunteering for two years and should know how important it is. Even though my expectations were met by my grandmother and by the interview, I was disappointed because when we got this project I thought it would be a lot more interesting. However, what I liked about this project is that it taught me how important the land of Israel is, and how important it is to be a contributing Israeli citizen.
Bibliography
"Bikur Cholim Hospital." Bio Jerusalem. 21 April 2010
<http://www.biojerusalem.org.il/database_hospital.asp?ID=4>
Levinson, Jay. "Annals of Traveller." The Jewish Magazine. 20 April 2010 <http://www.jewishmag.com/123mag/bikur_cholim/bikur_cholim.htm>